The Front Lines
by CT-325
Summary: Xan, Hawkins, Jay and Scorp are 4 very special clones, the last of a failed experiment. When they move in to Geonosis, they are immediately targeted, but not by droids.Better than it sounds,and the sequel is up:The Front Lines 2: Earth's Last Hope. Done.
1. Preparing For Battle

**The Front Lines:**

**Preparing For Battle**

CT-325, or Xan as his squad called him, ran across the floor of the landing pad on Kamino, the rain that was pattering on his helmet annoying the hell out of him. He was glad when he reached the other side and the door that led to the interior of Tropica city, and to the quarters of Commander Cody. Some of the clones in the hallway watched him enter the code for the door that led into the Commander's quarters. When the door finally opened, he stepped inside, thankful to take off his helmet. He looked like any other clone; black hair, white skin, and a hard look. But with one difference, there was a scar, and an unusual scar at that. The scar started right cheek, and worked its way up _across _his right eye, and finished at the top of his eyebrow. This was because his first squad-mate, CT-310, or Scorp, saved his life. They were in the training room, a few days ago. Xan was in the training room with Scorp and together they were sniping far off targets with the supplied issue of DC-15 Sniper Rifles. One clone thought that he could shoot one of the targets while standing behind Xan. Big mistake. Scorp saw what was going to happen and, thanks to his reflexes, pushed Xan forward just as the Clone fired. Xan, being a right hander, pitched forward, the top of his head facing the target. He was moving his head up to the when the high speed bullet inside the coating of plasma zoomed up the right side of his face, creating the scar that was now there. He had requested that Scorp be in his squad when he got one, and they had been best friends ever since. Cody walked out of the small armoury that he had in his quarters and asked Xan what was wrong. Xan saluted.

"Corporal 325, reporting as ordered, sir!"

Cody nodded, his helmet bouncing slightly. The only reason Xan could tell that it was him was because of the armour colour coding. Cody asked, "Do you know why you're here?"

Xan nodded slightly, and then replaced his helmet.

"We're going to war."

Once again on the landing pad, the rain was starting to become annoying. Xan looked around nervously as he waited for his squad. _There, _he thought. _Finally. _Scorp came running towards him. When he got there he saluted.

"CT-310, reporting in, sir!"

"Where's 311?" Xan shouted above the noise of the Republic Assault ships and LAAT's overhead. "Don't know sir!" Scorp shouted back.311 was the second squad-mate. Xan had chosen him because he bet 10 Republic credits that he could beat 311 in a race. Not hard to see who lost! A LAAT landed behind them and the doors opened. "Come on!" the pilot shouted over their comm frequency. Xan told Scorp to get on. Scorp ran on board the LAAT and talked to the pilot about where they were landing. _There he is, _thought Xan as he ran over to CT-311, or Jay, as they had come to know him. "Come on!" shouted Xan as he led him back to the LAAT. Jay quickly followed him, his fast moving legs propelling him across the pad to the LAAT faster than Xan. When Xan jumped aboard, he yelled to the pilot, "Go!" The door's shut and they all sat down. Scorp looked at him and spoke, "How's that scar healing up sir?" Xan replied, "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be here to talk about it. Does that answer your question?" Scorp grinned inside his helmet as Jay asked him, "Where are we being dropped?" Scorp shrugged. "Anywhere. As long as I get to bash up some droids," he flexed his muscles and laughed. With the best eyesight, reflexes and strongest biceps, Scorp was the strong one of the trio. Jay was really, _really _fast, and Xan was an excellent sniper. The pilot of the LAAT called out to them, "We're going to be on the _Accumulator_ soon!" Xan called back, "Roger that!" The 3 of them sat and reviewed the terrain that they going to be dropped off in. The holo-transmitter that Jay threw on the ground displayed the area with a 50 km radius, using their _Accumulator's _landing zone as the beginning. "This is our LZ." Said Scorp, setting a square at a spot 2 clicks out to the North-West of the drop zone. "Looks pretty barren," said Jay, doubtfully. "And there'll be no cover," added Xan.

"Exactly." Said Scorp. "We've been asked by Commander Cody to set up a trench in that vicinity. This," he said outlining another point about half a click to the North, North-West, and North-East. "Is where our enemies will be coming from. A few of them will be coming from behind as well, depending on the cleanup that our guys do. And this," he said placing a blip about a click behind them. "Is where our ground reinforcements will be." Xan nodded.

"Any air support?"

"2 LAAT's will be covering us from the air for a bit, but will pull out when the trench is set."

"Any cover?" asked Jay.

"Yes." Replied Scorp, outlining a trail, leading from the _Accumulator's _LZ, to the point where their trench would be, and beyond. "We'll have 2 AT-TE's with us, but when they get past, we're on our own."

"Got a plan?" asked Xan.

"Yes. My plan is that we move from the _Accumulator_, under the protection of the AT-TE's, and then, once we reach our destination, we start."

Xan shook his head. "No, that won't work. When we get there, there'll be too many droids to deal with."

"Maybe," Jay pondered the thought for a moment, and then continued.

"Maybe two of us could go in on the LAAT to set up under the cover of the LAAT's, and the other go with the AT-TE's."

Both Xan and Scorp smiled inside their helmets. The rookie was going quite well so far…


	2. Geonosis

**Geonosis**

The _Accumulator _flew into the atmosphere of the barren, wasteland of a planet that the Geonosion's call home. Inside the _Accumulator _the bridge crew were hurriedly typing commands, shouting out orders, executing the orders. Everything was hectic as their Republic Assault ship dropped into the atmosphere, an entire fleet behind it. Inside the hanger, things were just as busy; running pre-flight checks, working out the order of the ships' drops, and organising the pilots. Some of the pilots were filling their LAAT's with fuel, others were relaxing. Xan, Scorp and Jay were busy checking their weapons, helmets and comm, when a clone walked up to them. "Can I help you?" asked Xan, who, about as high as any other clone, 6ft, was stunned to see that the clone standing before him was at least 8ft! "Yes, I am Bravo leader, and reports just came in. You've been put into my squad, as have your team-mates," he nodded to Scorp and Jay. "What!" exclaimed Xan. "Who authorised this!"

"Mace-Windu, Jedi master." Xan gritted his teeth.

"Jay, get me Commander Cody on the comm."

"I've already spoken with the Commander and he did not fully agree with me at first, but than accepted. Our plan is this: 3 of my men will travel with the AT-TE's, while you three go off early to get the CP up. I also hear that you three have quite a reputation, by the way, 325," he said, grinning.

"How's that scar healing up?" Xan gritted his teeth and tried as hard as he could not to throw his fist at the tall clone that he now remembered as 833. Jay and Scorp could see what was about to happen, and Jay quickly changed the subject while Scorp dragged him aside.

"So, you've heard about us?"

"Yes, word spreads fast around here…"

"What the hell do you think your doing!" Scorp whispered furiously.

"Just… one…punch!" Xan said, struggling and trying to get away. But Scorp's grip was strong, and Xan soon relaxed.

"Look," Scorp continued, loosening his grip. "I know that what he did was wrong. Hell! It was bloody stupid! But beating the living shit out of him won't help. Got it?" He finally let go of Xan, who shot one more glare at 833, before trudging back to the LAAT. Scorp went over, patted Jay on the shoulder and jerked his head toward the LAAT, and picked up the weapons and helmets.

"Here." Xan looked up and caught his helmet in one hand as Scorp and Jay walked in. And then he put it on, the HUD immediately switching on, displaying his vitals, radar, and when he uploaded it, a map. "We're almost ready for take-off," said their pilot, Hawkins. They nick named him Hawkins because he had the best eyesight out of all of them; he was the one who warned Scorp about the incoming bullet, which is why Xan still has his head. Hawkins also loves to fly, which matched him with his nickname perfectly. The speaker over the _Accumulator _blared to life. The voice of Captain AD came up.

"_Bravo LAAT," _Hawkins shut the door and everyone strapped themselves onto the make-shift seats. "Hang tight!" called Hawkins, getting ready to hit the "UNLATCH" button.

"_You are clear for launch." _Hawkins hit the button, and they dropped like a stone, through the hole in the floor, and out of the _Accumulator_. While they were dropping, they heard the voice of the captain again. _"Delta lead, you are clear for launch." _The LAAT that Hawkins was piloting was shaking uncontrollably. But he managed to tame it by the time they came 50m above ground level. _"Hold on boys!" _Hawkins shouted over their custom comm frequency. He opened the doors and Xan, Jay and Scorp looked out. "Whoa." Said Jay.

"I'll say," echoed Scorp. The terrain below them was rough, barren, and extremely desert-like. The LAAT past a spire where they saw multiple Geonosion fighters preparing for take off. One of the fighters took off and started trailing them. High energy pulse lasers streamed past them. Some were hitting the shields, and others were missing completely. When one hit the cliff next to them, showering debris all over the LAAT, Hawkins shouted, "Get him off our tail!"

Xan and Scorp jumped into the side turrets, while Jay took control of the manual control missiles. Xan fired a long green beam of concentrated energy at the fighter, but missed. The Geonosion inside the fighter roared and pulled right, in order to escape the deadly beam, coming alongside a cliff. "Damn it!" said Xan, jumping off and grabbing his DC-15 blaster rifle, which could also be manufactured into his sniper rifle. He raised it at the glass bubble that housed the Geonosion, and started firing. Some of the lasers hit it, but did nothing but draw the Geonosion's attention, which is exactly what he wanted.

"Jay!" Scorp shouted over their frequency, also starting to fire at the glass.

"Fire a rocket at the cliff next to it!"

"_Roger that."_

One of Scorp's beams found its mark and broke the glass. The Geonosion cursed at him in their native language as shards of broken glass smashed into it. The Geonosion pulled along side them in an attempt to shoot them with its gun, a blaster pistol. Xan switched to his sniper and peered through the scope. The control panel was in his sights.

"Gotcha. Jay! Fire _now!_" Xan pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew straight into, through, and _out _the other side of the Geonosion's hand, _and _the control panel. The Geonosion screamed in pain, and then the missile hit the cliff next to it, flinging rocks, dirt and debris all over the Geonosion and its fighter, blinding it. It screamed once again, its fighter spinning out of control, flinging the Geonosion out of the seat, and to the ground 50m below. The Geonosion fighter _slammed _into the cliff, creating a spectacular explosion. Scorp got out of his seat and Jay walked into the main hold. "Nice job, Bravo team." Said Xan, once again, wishing that he and his team didn't have to be under the command of that other clone, 833. "How long till we reach the objective?" asked Jay. "30 seconds." Replied Hawkins. The three of them sat down and loaded their weapons. Xan pocketed a few EMP grenades, while Scorp took some Thermal Detonators. Jay grabbed a few remote-detonation explosives, and fed a rocket into his rocket launcher, which he carried on his back. They all pocketed a few extra magazines for their blaster rifles, and put a few _in_ their blasters. "Okay team!" shouted Hawkins. "Get ready!" The LAAT touched solid ground and the three of them jumped out, weapons raised and firing at the swarm of about 50 droids. The LAAT lifted off and shot at them from the air with its main cannons. Xan aimed at the nearest battle droid and took it down with a few well placed shots to the head. Scorp rolled forward, Xan rolled to the left, and Jay rolled to the right, all in perfect synchronisation. More and more droids fell to the barrage of deadly blaster fire. With one final missile, all the droids were down, and another LAAT joined them, dropping off the main resources for the bunker, some ammo, and about 2 clones to help them. "Where's the instruction manual?" said Jay sarcastically.

"I mean, seriously, if they're gonna give us a "Do-It-Yourself-kit, then where are the instructions?" Xan rolled his eyes and Scorp and the other two clones laughed.

"Alright," said Xan. "Scorp, you set up a few turret emplacements."

"Yes sir."

"Jay,"

"Mmm?"

"You, these guys and I will start setting up the bunker."

"Roger that."

By now Scorp had managed to set up one turret and was moving onto the next, when the second LAAT took a rocket in the back. They all stopped what they were doing and looked up. "Get out of there!" one of the clones yelled into the comm.

"_I can't!... loosing…contr…! …going to crash!"_

"Get down!"

They all dived out of the way as the LAAT pitched forward and crashed into the ground, the fires still burning it. Scorp, who was the closest, had an idea. The LAAT had landed right next to a small trench. "Put out those fires!" he shouted. Xan and Jay and the other clones caught on to what he was doing and reacted immediately, grabbing the water that they had been given, and put out the fires straight away. When the fire was out, one of the clones, 386, went inside the mostly intact LAAT and came out with the pilot, still alive, and placed him on a stretcher. "We've got to get him back to the medics!" he said. Jay shook his head. "No time. But Scor… er, I mean, 310, is a professional." 386 nodded. "All right." Scorp carried the pilot back inside the crashed LAAT to offer him some shade, as his armour's temperature system had broken, while the others put some cover up around and over the trench after they had dug it longer and wider. They also set up some tents for the wounded, with some medical supplies and equipment in it, which is where Scorp took the pilot. He came back out to Xan and turned off his comm, then, out of earshot, said "I've healed him with the bacta that we have, but his suit has been breached in several places, and he'll be dead if he stays in this environment."

"What is he doing now?"

"He's asleep, I gave him a sedative." Xan nodded thoughtfully.

"Alright. But everyone has a right to know." Scorp turned his comm back on and told everyone what was happening. While that was going on, Xan talked to Hawkins over the comm. "How's she holding up?"

"_She's a bit battered, but a few repairs and she'll be as good as new. How's everything down there?"_

"We're all set. But the pilot's gonna be killed if we don't evac him soon."

"_Roger that, Xan. I can only stay for a few mor- Shit!"_

The LAAT zoomed forward and a missile streaked past and slammed into a cliff a few clicks away.

"_Shit! There's another one!"_ The LAAT angled upwards and the missile flew straight _through_ the cargo hold and met the same fate as the first missile.

"_I'm sorry Xan; I gotta get out of here. I'll call for evac for your pilot."_

"Roger that, Hawkins, get outta here." The LAAT zoomed off, with two missiles hot on its tail. The others, excluding the pilot, had seen the LAAT and the missile incident. Jay walked up to Xan. "Are you sure we'll be alright? The AT-TE's are about a click away. That's ten minutes."

Xan didn't know how to respond. He looked to the North-West and froze.

"We don't have ten minutes."


	3. First Blood

**First Blood**

The advancing CIS forces had everything that the Republic hoped that they wouldn't; Hailfire tanks, Spider droids, Spider walkers, etc. Xan ran into the communications tent and hit the FLEETCOMM button on the display, calling for evac. "Mayday, mayday! This is Corporal Xan, requesting immediate backup! We have wounded! I repeat! we have wounded that need evac, ASAP!" He walked back out, having received no reply, and looked at the AT-TE's. They had only gained half a click. _Wait..._ Something wasn't right. _If the AT-TE's are half a click away, then where are the CIS forces? _He was blown off of his feet when a Spider walker's laser hit the patch of ground 3m away from him. He landed at the trench and shouted over the comm, "Jay! Scorp! We're under attack! Get over to the trench, _now!_" He got up and rolled into the trench as lasers scalded the spot where he was less than a second ago. He grabbed onto his sniper and looked through the scope.

"Holy shit." The CIS strike group was a mere 100m away! He looked behind him as 842 and the other clone, 848, ran past him and rolled behind the bunkers. Scorp and Jay joined him in the trench and raised their DC-15's, firing. After a few shots were taken by the nearest Hailfire. Scorp yelled, "Jay! You need to take it out with your rocket launcher!"

"Oh, right! Give me some cover!"

Jay climbed up and over the trench and sprinted toward the weapons tent where they stored all of their explosive arms. Scorp followed him, taking out a Super battle droids with a few shots to the head. When they got inside, Xan grabbed his sniper rifle and followed them. Once he was outside the door, he raised it to his helmet once more, and picked off any droid that even _thought _of coming near him. With three shots, he had taken out three enemies, all to their heads. He switched guns, removing the scope from the top of the gun barrel, to the bottom, where he placed his hand, and placed other things in different spots, to form his blaster rifle. He aimed at a nearby battle droid and shot at it, 4 lasers in quick succession. The lasers hit the droid square in the chest plate. Oil spurted out of it like a fountain while the droid collapsed to the ground. When that droid was down, he lobbed a thermal detonator at the nearest Droideka that was rolling toward the bunkers that the clones were reloading behind. The Droideka stopped to unfold, and exploded as the thermal detonator took its toll. He twisted round to face more incoming droids. He fired at a group of ten, taking 3 down before he had to reload. He threw the empty clip to the ground and slapped in a fresh one. He then dropped his gun and drew his blaster pistol, confident that he could provide a bit more cover. He raised the pistol at the group of droids and pulled the trigg-.

_Ftzz! _A blaster's laser smashed into the barrel of the pistol, causing the front to melt just as Xan's blaster fired. Xan's laser hit the melted end of his pistol and drew so much heat that it exploded in his hands from the pressure. His armour's temperature system cooled down his armour as he thought; _what the hell are they doing in there?_

"Scorp! Jay! What's taking so long!" he yelled over the comm. He was about to make a dive for his blaster, which was a few metres away, when a Hailfire laser struck the ground in front of him He attempted to run for the gun again, but reeled backwards when a long red beam emitted from a Spider walker and made a long, deep cut in the ground in front of him.. The Hailfire tank and the Spider walker started coming towards him at tremendous speeds. He was trapped, and he knew it. As the Hailfire was about to hit Xan, and the Spider walker about to lay him to waste, Scorp and Jay bolted out of the tent; Jay carrying his rocket launcher, and Scorp carrying his Detpacks. "Xan!" Scorp yelled.

"Cover me!"

Jay fired at the Hailfire tank, the rocket gliding across the space between them, and it _slammed_ into the centre, causing it to explode, with the wheels flying out to the sides, and the centre to just melt completely. With a clear line to his blaster rifle, Xan ran to it and picked it up, just in time to save Scorp from a Super battle droid by blasting off its firing arm. The droid waddled around uselessly as he ran with Scorp, Jay switching to his blaster rifle and covering the ammunitions tent. Scorp got to the Spider walker, pulled his climbing gear from his backpack, and threw it upwards. The rope looped around a leg attachment on the walker and fastened. Scorp clipped the rope to his belt and reeled himself up while Xan took out numerous enemies on the ground. When Scorp was level with the leg attachment, he pulled out a Detpack, activated the magnetic system with the touch of a button, and placed it on the joint. He quickly reeled down the rope, and unclipped it as his feet landed hard on the dusty ground. "Xan!" he yelled. "Hit the button!"

"The what?"

"The button!"

"Oh."

Xan and Scorp ran for cover. On their way, they passed the bunker. The two clones were lying in a pool of blood, one of them still alive. Scorp and Xan were going to help him when he managed to cough out two words.

"L-eave m-me."

Scorp and Xan looked at him, but reconsidered and then ran to the trench. When they got there, they jumped inside and pulled out their blaster rifles. "Jay!" yelled Xan over the comm. _"Yeah?"_

"Get over to the bunker!"

"_Wh-"_

"Just do it!"

"_Yes sir, Jay out."_

"Get ready, Scorp." said Xan, raising his rifle. They saw Jay round the corner of the ammo tent, running hard and fast. "There!"

Xan twirled to face the spot to witch Scorp was pointing. He took aim and pulled the trigger, sending a stream of 6 blue, super heated lasers at the battle droid. One of the lasers hit it in the chest. Its chest exploded in a small ball of flame and oil. 3 lasers hit it in the head, completely melting it. And the last 2 lasers hit it in both of its legs, one for each laser. The droid, which was now a smouldering pile of heat, crumbled to the ground. Jay dived into the trench. "Okay." Said Xan.

"3…2…1…-"

"Stop!" yelled Scorp.

"What!"

"It fell off!" he shouted.

"What!" shouted a frustrated Jay.

It was true. The Detpack had fallen clean off the Spider walker. It raised its cannon and fired at the trench. They all ducked down as the trench practically exploded. The CIS forces were closing in all around them. When the dust cloud cleared, they got up again and stared at the droid. They all saw it at once.

"Oh no." said Jay.

"My god." Breathed Xan.

"Don't do it!" Scorp shouted to the clone that was limping toward the walker, Detpack in hand. Scorp tried to get up and stop him, but Xan and Jay held him back. They all stared as the clone placed the Detpack on the leg and held it there. He was about to take away his arm when,

_Fttzzz!_

"AAARRRGGGHHH!" the trooper screamed as the Spider walker's red hot beam sliced through his arm _extremely _cleanly. He looked at where his arm used to be, and would have gone into shock, had he not been a clone. He looked back at the Detpack and tried to pry it from his former arm's hand, but it was no use. His hand had it in a death grip. He stared up at the walker's leg joint, and then stared back at the three, who were just standing in the trench. He grabbed his climbing rope and swung it up over the joint, like Scorp had done before.

"No!" Scorp tried to get away from his friends' grips. But it was no use.

"Tell him to stop!"

"We can't." Jay said.

The clone latched the rope onto his belt, grabbed his dead arm with his only arm, and pressed the button, with his only free finger (his pinkie,) to make himself go up. He slowly started to go up. When he reached the end, he struggled trying to get off. All this time, Xan, Jay and Scorp were ducking inside the trench to escape the deadly lasers that the Spider walker was firing. When the clone managed to get himself off the rope, he _jammed _the arm into the leg joint and held it there to make sure that it wouldn't fall. The three heard a voice over the comm. It was the clone.

"_325; hit the button."_

"But you'll be killed!" Scorp shouted in protest.

The clone didn't respond. "Do it." Said Jay understanding and quiet, wishing that they didn't have to waste a good soldier's life. Xan nodded slowly, raised the remote detonator trigger, and pushed it. The explosion sent a shockwave through the ground. The clone trooper was visible for less than a second as he was consumed by flames and flung from the walker. His body flew like a rag doll as the leg joint exploded, causing the leg to fall down to the ground. With a leg gone, the walker just collapsed, and hit the ground. _Hard_. The centre ball of the walker exploded in a brilliant ball of red flame, flinging bits of debris everywhere. The two legs were flung away like three javelin's As it was raining red hot, burning pieces of metal, the AT-TE's arrived with the reinforcements, blasting all the CIS forces in the area. Another Spider walker that dare oppose the AT-TE's got blasted to a black, smouldering scrap pile. "Sir!" a pilot jumped out of one of the AT-TE's and saluted Xan. Xan saluted back. "What's your name?"

"Private Blay, sir. Number 363." Xan nodded. "Alright, Blay. Create a perimeter with the AT-TE's, then report back to me."

"Yes, sir!" Xan turned as Blay ran off to his AT-TE.

Xan turned, saw a LAAT land, and watched as Hawkins jumped out. The AT-TE's moved off and kept on blasting the opposing droids with their green pulse lasers. "Sir!" Hawkins ran up to Xan and saluted. "I have orders to air-lift you out of here."

Xan nodded and looked behind him. The AT-TE's were just finishing the 'clean-up' of the area. Xan looked back and said, "Right. Get the ship ready for take off." Hawkins saluted and ran off to his ship. Xan talked over the private comm link. "All right Bravo, we're moving out."

Scorp and Jay quickly ran off to the ship. Xan followed them, and when he jumped on, the LAAT lifted off. The LAAT flew fast and low over the dusty and orange terrain. They past a number of tall and jagged spires, the rocks that formed them taking the same colour as the sand on the ground. Xan looked out at their front lines; a group of SPHA-T's (Self Propelled Heavy Artillery-Turbo laser's) bringing down a rising core-ship, the lasers tearing straight _through _the heavy armour plating. When the core ships engines failed, it slowly fell down to the ground, gaining speed as it went. When it did hit the ground, an enormous cloud of dust spouted up, blocking Xan's view. It was when the LAAT broke through the cloud of dust, that Xan noticed that he, Scorp and Jay were riding the LAAT with an extra clone, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. Hawkins piloted the LAAT past a rather large cliff, when they saw a swoop bike drop down the cliff, followed closely by two Geonosion fighters. Xan walked into the pilot's area, looked over Hawkins shoulder and asked, "Who's that?"

"It's Dooku." Said Anakin in disgust.  
"Shoot him down!"

Hawkins checked the displayand then said to Anakin, "We're out of rockets, sir!"

"Then follow him."

"We're going to need some help!" protested Padme.

Xan walked back into the hold, when he was suddenly thrown into the wall. Scorp met the same fate, but Jay was holding onto the bars on the roof. Xan and Scorp stood up, and Scorp asked over their private comm channel, _"What was that?"_

"_Damn it!" _said Hawkins as he struggled with the controls, skimming the LAAT over a small sand dune.

"_Two Geonosion fighters, on our tail!"_

"_Great,"_ muttered Jay. At the top of the dune, one of the lasers found its mark, and hit the LAAT in the left wing joint. The LAAT pitched forward, and 2 people fell out: Padme Amidala, and Jay. "Arrrgggghhhh!" Padme's screams became less and less loud as she fell, hit the top of the sand dune, and rolled down to the bottom, unconscious. Jay hit the top and stayed there, unmoving. His gun fell from his hand and landed beside his limp body. "Put the ship down!" yelled Anakin in frustration. Scorp and Xan partly wanted to land as well, but they knew that they couldn't. The LAAT kept on going as Xan asked Scorp, "What are our coordinates?"

Scorp hit a few buttons on his armour's wrist pad, and replied,

"_Sector Gamma, 3 by 14, North North-West from the forward command centre."_

"Good. Call for a LAAT for Jay."

"I'm way ahead of you."

This last comment was said over the speakers of the armour, and Obi-Wan looked at them strangely. Xan and Scorp stood to attention until Obi-Wan looked away again.

"Idiot."

Jay groaned and sat up. Padme was still lying down below him. He stood up and retrieved his weapon. He raised it to his helmet and looked around the area. He was still a bit dizzy, but he managed to stop a droid from reaching him with a few well-placed shots to the head. A clone ran toward him just as Padme woke up and asked, "Are you two alright?"

"Yes." Padme answered for the both of them.

"We'd better get back to the forward commander centre."

"No." This answer came from Jay. Padme and the other clone looked at him.

"Count Dooku is being persued by a LAAT with two Jedi, and four soldiers. I saw them heading for a spire when we fell off. Maybe that's where they went."

The clone nodded and said,

"Master Yoda's on his way. So we'll just have to wait until he gets here."


	4. Pulling Out

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, I only own my characters.

* * *

**Pulling Out**

Xan and Scorp jumped off the LAAT and onto the outstretched bridge that led into the hangar, as did the other clone trooper. The LAAT started to lift off, but took a hit to the back and lurched. "Shit!"

Able to see what was going to happen, Hawkins ran to the back of the LAAT and jumped off of the side, falling to the bridge. The lasers from the Geonosion fighters smashed into the LAAT, bringing its shields down, and then hitting it in the right wing. The joint exploded, causing the wing to come off and tumble down to the ground far below them. Hawkins got up and was just in time to see his smoking LAAT spiral down after the wing, creating a dull _thump_ as it hit the ground and exploded. The clone started shotting at Dooku, who was running into the hanger, having jumped off of his swoop bike. One of the fighter's lasers hadn't over-heated, so it shot at the clone. The laser hit the clone in the chest, knocking him off the bridge and down to the orange sand and ruined LAAT below…

* * *

Jay, the clone and Padme jumped aboard the LAAT as it touched down. "Take us to Count Dooku, you will." Master Yoda said to the pilot. "Yes sir!" the pilot responded, brining the LAAT up off the ground, and speeding off toward the hanger.

* * *

"Wait here." said Obi-Wan as he ran off into the hanger with Anakin. When they were inside, Scorp turned to Xan and Hawkins and said: "Why do we have to wait here?"

"I don't know," said Hawkins, also puzzled.

"Why can't we go in and fight?"

"Because you don't have a gun," Xan pointed out.

"Oh, right.

The _hum _of a LAAT got them all looking at the horizon. There was a small dot, getting larger by the second. "That's Yoda," said Hawkins, his eyesight spotting it in an instant.

Xan talked over the comm;

"This is 325, repeat, this is 325, how're you feeling Jay?"

"_Fine, sir. Yourself?_"

"We're good here." Xan replied.

Another _hum_ caught their attention. They looked behind Jay's LAAT, and saw another pull beside it. A few minutes later, both of the LAAT's landed on the pad, three clone troopers, a pilot, Yoda and Padme Amidala all hopping out. Jay ran up to them and said, "Yoda told us to set up a barrier."

Xan and Scorp nodded.

One of the clones ran up to Xan and said to him:

"Sir! Private Blay reporting, as ordered Sir!"

Xan looked at him, and then said, "Well done, Private. Now, we w-" he was cut off by the beeping sound coming from the speakers inside his helmet, indicating that someone was trying to contact him on the comm. He hit the button to open the channel, and a voice on the other end said: "_This is Commander Cody, contacting Corporal 325, can you read me_?"

"This is Corporal 325, I read you, loud and clear, sir."

"_I understand Private 363 is with you, over_?"

"Yes, sir!"

"_As of now, he is in your squad, I say again, as of now, Private 363 is a part of your squad, do you copy?_"

"Roger that, Commander, I copy. This is Corporal 325, out."

He switched off the comm and turned to Blay.

"Well, Private, looks like your with me now,"

"Yes, sir!

Xan, Jay, Scorp, Blay and the three other clones formed a line at the entrance to the hanger, to prevent Padme from getting inside. Deep down, Xan, Scorp and Jay wanted to go inside too, especially after they heard the sound of three lightsabers hitting one another. Padme desperately tried to get past and into the hangar, but the line held. Soon, Yoda walked on past them, and Jay said over the comm: "Man, I really want to be in there right now."

"Yeah," agreed Scorp.

Suddenly, a message came over Xan's comm: "_This is Commander Cody, calling Corporals: 325, 310 and 311. I repeat, Corporals 325, 310 and 311, we are pulling you out_."

He groaned, and then said over the private comm: "Well boys, looks like the fight's over for us."

"Shit!"

"What a load of-"

"Come on!" Hawkins said, having received the message too. They all ran over to the LAAT that he had already prepared while they were busy, and jumped aboard.

"Where are we going?" asked Blay.

"Cody's ship," he said, and then told Hawkins the coordinates. Hawkins jumped into the pilot's seat and strapped in. He shut the doors on the side of the LAAT, and pushed a throttle forward. He then grabbed onto two control sticks – the hight and direction joystick, and the speed joystick – and lifted the LAAT off the ground. The LAAT turned, and sped off towards the _Accumulator_, gaining speed all the way. As they exited the atmosphere, they all looked out the cockpit and saw dozens, maybe _thousands_, of core-ships rising into their stations. They also saw _millions_ of CIS ships mixed with other ships that weren't marked with the CIS symbols. "What the hell?" muttered Scorp.

"What are those strange ships with the CIS fleet? They don't look like part of the CIS."

"No," agreed Hawkins, heading for the _Accumulator_. "I got a brief from fleet Admiral Buenos. He said that they had been classed as: the Unknown fleet. They came out of hyperspace about an hour ago. He says that the Captain of the _Accumulator_ took one of them down, using all of his three MPL's – Main Pulse Laser's."

"Sounds like fun!" said Jay and Scorp simultaneously.

"Sounds risky," said Xan, obviously doubting the fact that they were in space. Xan had never liked being in space: he wasn't in control, and there were many things that could go wrong: shields might fail, the engines might overload, someone could make a miscalculation with the hyperspace coordinates and they could end up inside a planet! No, he didn't like being in space at all. As the LAAT drew close, Hawkins got a signal from someone, most likely the fleet Admiral. When it finished, he swore, then said:

"Guys, listen to this,"

He played the transmission that he had received from the fleet _commander_ – also known amongst the Delta commando team as the Advisor – over their helmet speakers:

"_This is fleet commander 890, repeat, this is fleet commander 890, _Accumulator_ currently controlled by hostiles, repeat, _Accumulator_ is currently controlled by hostiles._"

"Wait," said Xan in thought.

"Was that a recorded message?"

"Yes," replied Hawkins, staring at a monitor in front of him.

"Yes it was. It's programmed to broadcast to anyone within the range of 200 meters."

"Shit!" said Blay. Then something occurred to Xan: _Blay had just cursed_.

Which means?

_That he's independent, like us_.

He thought back to that day that he was 'born': Kaminoin's running around, his tank held separately from the rest of the Bacta tanks, etc. He remembered later hearing of a 'failed experiment'. He, and the other clones – Hawkins, Scorp and Jay – escaping by breaking out of the tanks. But he did remember one other thing: _there was a fifth clone with them_.

"Well then," said Scorp, heading back to the main hold to get their weapons.

"We'll just have to take it back then, won't we?"

* * *

The LAAT travelled under the _Accumulator_ and stopped underneath the hangar that was on the belly of the ship. Since everyone had been evacuated – that was why the message was recorded – the giant silver square that was the door to the hangar was still open. Or it had been blown off. The LAAT rose slowly into the hangar, and docked beside the door in the floor. The hangar was quite large, with a balcony circling the entire room.

"Okay," said Xan, slapping a clip into his blaster rifle.

"Seal helmets!"

Everone did as he said, touching a button on the right side of their neck, which sealed the helmets from all outside air, making gas leak out the sides, creating a hissing sound. When that was done, Scorp gave Hawkins a blaster pistol as Jay walked into the cockpit and opened the doors. Xan jumped out first, floating over to the opposite side of the hangar, his gun raised, aiming all around him to see if there were any droids lurking about.

"Clear!" he said into the comm. Soon, Hawkins came out with his blaster pistol gripped in two hands, with Blay following closely. The three of them floated over to the air lock that was used in case of emergencies, and held onto handles that were there. Then Scorp and Jay came out, propelling themselves across the hangar by pushing off the LAAT, landing next to Xan and Hawkins by thudding against the wall, and then grabbing a hand-hold each. Blay, who was more of a technician, pushed the codes to unseal the door of the air-lock on the terminal next to it. The door slid open to reveal another door beyond it. They all floated inside the small room and Scorp hit the button to close the door behind them. When it was closed, a small rectangular screen above the door in front of them displayed the status of the room. At the moment, it read: **Pressurizing**.

There was a _hiss_ as the air inside the room was ejected into space, and then the screen read: **Pressurizing complete**.

After the door opened, Blay and Xan dived out to the hallway beyond, which went left and right in a T shape. They stopped at the corner and raised their weapons, Xan raising his around the corner to the right, Blay raising his around the left.

"Clear," Xan whispered over the speakers.

"Clear,"

"Okay," said Xan, waving the others forward.

"From now on, we travel in two's: Scorp, you're with me, Jay with Hawkins, and Blay with me and Scorp, because there's no one else. From now on, only comm chatter, okay?"

They all nodded as Xan did the radio check: "Bravo 2,"

"Ready, sir!" said Hawkins.

"Bravo 3,"

"Just give me something to kill," muttered Jay.

"Bravo 4,"

"On the look out, using infa-red!" Blay said through the comm, scanning the hallways with his infa-red gear that uses heat signatures to find things.

"And last of all, Bravo 5,"

"Ready to move out, sir!" said Scorp.

"Move out, Bravo team."

Jay and Hawkins went left, on the look out for any enemies that might include: Trandosian's, droids, etc, while Xan, Blay and Scorp headed right, with their blaster rifles raised. Xan headed down the corridor first, and raised his hand when they came to a corner. He advanced on his own, with his blaster rifle aimed up at the roof, but his head facing forward. He jumped around the corner and aimed his weapon at the next hallway and immediately pulled the trigger. A single blaster bolt flew out of his blaster rifle and smashed into the reconnaissance droid, causing it to explode. The small, circular droid's parts flew outward and hit the walls, floor and roof of the hallway.

"Recon droid," Xan whispered into the team comm channel.

"_We found one too_," Hawkins' voice filled the speaker.

"Keep me updated,"

"_Roger, Bravo 2 out_,"

Xan waved the other two forward. When they reached him, he pointed to Scorp, pointed to his own visor, pointed to the corridor behind them, then waved his hand forward and pointed ahead of them. Scorp nodded, and as they continued forward, he was walking backwards, facing the way that they had come to make sure that no one was sneaking up behind them. They came to a door, and while Scorp was still looking behind them, Xan started to punch in the codes to open the door. Blay glanced at the rectangular screen above the door.

It read: **Lift**.

He aimed his rifle at the two doors. The doors parted quickly, with a small _hiss_, and Xan walked in. Blay patted Scorp on the shoulder, and then they walked into the lift as well. The doors slid together as they hit the button to travel up to the bridge.

* * *

"_This is Bravo 1_," Xan's voice came over Hawkins' comm.

"_Bravo 2, this is Bravo 1, do you copy, over?_"

"Yes sir, I read you," Hawkins said into his mike.

"What is it sir, over?"

"_We're heading up to the bridge in one of the main access lifts, over._"

Hawkins approached the door in front of him and signalled Jay to type in the codes. "Roger that," he said as the door slid open to reveal a lift.

"We found a lift too, about to take it to the bridge, over."

"_Roger that, Bravo 2, this is Bravo 1, out_."

* * *

The lift was 7 seconds, or two levels,away from the bridge when it lurched to a stop.

Xan, Blay and Scorp crashed to the ground.

"_Shit_!"

Xan recognised Hawkins' voice as it came over his comm. They had probably been stopped too. "Scorp," Xan said, standing up.

"Get us outta here."

Scorp jumped up off the ground, went over to the lift doors and hit the button to open them.

No luck.

"Damn it!" he cursed, grabbing the two doors. He pulled them apart, groaning as he did.

"Go!" he said when the gapwas big enough for someone to fit through. Xan and Blay jumped through the gap, and then they helped Scorp get up. As soon as Scorp was out, the doors slammed shut, and the lift flew down the shaft at a frightening speed.

"This is Bravo 1, calling Bravo's 2 and 3, do you copy?"

"_Shit, sir!_" Xan heard Hawkins shout through the mike.

"_Sir! Our lift is dropping! We can see the lights on the display getting closer to the bottom! Shit!_"

"Stop the lift, then!"

A screeching sound had filled the comm, and Hawkins shouted above it: "_We can't_s_ir! We're gonna hit the bottom! Brace for im-_"

A _boom_ resounded around the ship as the lift hit the bottom. A shockwave spread through the ship, and Xan tried the comm as he advanced around the corner with Scorp and Blay.

"Bravo 2!"

Static.

"Bravo 2 please respond!"

More static.

"Damn it Hawkins, talk to me!"

The channel immediately cut out.

"Shit,"

He ran around the corner and up a ramp with his blaster rifle raised. Scorp and Blay came up the ramp behind him, with Scorp checking the area behind them. The ramp turned around a corner, and became steeper. Xan reached the top and crouched with his blaster rifle held to his shoulder. Scorp and Blay came up behind him, and then they passed him, their blaster rifles held up at the door beyond. The door was big enough to fit 4 people standing in a row. The three of them advanced, and Xan punched in the codes to open the door. The rectangular screen above the door said: **Bridge**.

The door opened and they advanced in, taking in their surroundings in the blink of an eye.

The bridge of the _Accumulator_ was the same as any other 'Acclamator' class Republic assault ship: silver plating, two levels, reinforced glass window at the front, etc. The two levels were connected by two ramps, one on the left of the entry door, one on the right. The upper level was only a series of connected ramps. Xan, Blay and Scorp walked in, ready for any attack that could be forced upon them at any moment. They went to the front of the bridge and examined the controls. Xan thought for a moment, and then he said: "Blay, give me a map of the ship,"

"Yes sir,"

Blay put his blaster rifle on the ground, and then began tapping away at the controls. Surprisingly, the screen in front of them came to life, showing an area schematic. "This," said Blay, outlining an area at the top of the ship. "Is where we are, and this," he outlined a spot to the South-East of the first outline. "Is where Hawkins and Jay were, in the lift."

"How many levels does the ship have?" asked Scorp.

"About thirty,"

"Shit."

"What level were we on when the lift stopped?" Xan asked him.

"Let me see," he tapped a few keys, and then he said: "28,"

"Damn…"

Jay looked at the screen, then he leaned forward and looked closer, and then he said to them: "There's a spike that was set on that level,"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, that if a lift went to, or past that level, or tried to get past, then the lift would stop, and, after a 10 second delay, it would malfunction and drop to the bottom floor: the maintenance level,"

Xan thought for a moment, wondering about something. A voice cut into his thoughts:

"_This is Commander Cody, contacting Bravo team, we have defeated the enemy, I repeat, the CIS are in full retreat. Acknowledge, over_."

Xan keyed the comm link.

"This is 325, to Commander Cody, roger that, current position is the _Accumulator_, need reinforcements, 2 MIA, repeat, we have two troopers that are Missing In Action, over."

"_Roger that, 325. Reinforcements are on the way, over and out_."

He terminated the link… and then the power cut out.

The three of them turned on there night vision, and everything went black and white.

"Right, let me get this straight," Xan said.

"There's a spike in the lift system, and the power just went out,"

Blay and Scorp nodded.

"What's your point?"

"If that's happened, then why can't we find anyone else? Unless they're…"

"Somewhere else," Blay finished. "But where would they be if they could cut the power from where they are?"

"The maintenance level," said Scorp.

* * *

Hawkins groaned.

What happened? He remembered being in a lift, then it stopped, then it fell.

So where was he?

He surveyed the wreckage around him: twisted metal was everywhere, and there was a body lying on the ground over to his left.

It was Jay.

He swore as he tried to stand up, but stopped. There was a pool of blood underneath him, and a long gash down his chest. He wasn't able to stand up. He looked down at his leg; it was bent at an awkward angle. He stood up on his good leg, grimacing as his chest burned with pain. He hopped, on his good leg, over to the hole in the wall that was the door. It took him a while, but he managed to climb up and get himself into a sitting position.

He keyed his comm. "Bravo 1! Bravo1, do you copy!" he hissed. But he only got static. He looked around him after he switched off the link. He was looking for his pistol, but he couldn't find it.

_A blaster rifle would be good_, he thought. When his eyes came to rest on Jay's blaster rifle, however, his heart fell as he saw it broken and bent. He looked behind him and found a door. He read the screen above it.

It said: **Maintenance**.

Suddenly, the power cut out, leaving him in total darkness.

* * *

"_325, this is Commander Cody, please respond, over!_"

"Damn it… This is 325 to Commander Cody, what is it, sir?"

"_325, we are calling off the reinforcements, I repeat, we are calling off the reinforcements, over_."

"Shit… Why, sir?"

"_We have just received reports that the CIS have attacked Kamino!_"

**Authors Note: I'm open to suggestions for this story, so if you don't like it, or you just want to help, let me know.**


	5. Kamino

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, I only own my characters.

**Kamino**

Xan and Scorp ran back through the door and down the ramp. They came to the lift, but instead of trying to open the door, they went to the left of it – the ramps – and ran down.

"These ramps will take us to the Maintenance level," Panted Scorp over the radio.

"_Hey guys,_" said Blay, who was staying back at the bridge to monitor their progress.

"What is it?"

"_I've pulled up a radar that is scanning the ship; apparently only one of us is on the maintenance level, and he's badly damaged because he's moving at one quarter of the speed that you guys are moving at_,"

Xan was puzzled.

_If one of us wasn't showing up on radar, then that would mean that we would be dead._

But if one of us was dead, then _all_ of us would be dead.

_But why aren't we all dead?_

Maybe it's because of the ships electrical interference.

Maybe…

They kept on running down the ramps and around the corners. Soon, they came to a door that said:

**Maintenance Level**.

Scorp punched in the code, and the door slid open. They advanced in, finding themselves in a room that was full of machinery.

All operational.

They passed it all and walked into another room.

This one was the lift.

There was wreckage everywhere:

The lift itself was nothing more than a pile of rubble, fires blazed in certain areas, and a limp, and a non-moving outline laid a few metres away.

"Is that?" Xan whispered.

"Jay!" Scorp cried over the comm. He ran forward and dropped his weapon, sliding to a halt next to the limp shape that appeared black and white on their visor. Scorp nudged Jay's lifeless form, then, making sure that he wasn't dead first, stood up and picked up his weapon.

"I'm gonna kill them," he hissed over the comm, not turning around.

"I'm gonna kill them _all_,"

Hawkins crawled over the solid floor in agony; his leg was giving him a great deal of pain. He crawled to a door, and reached up to the button that opened it. The door hissed as it slid open, revealing _a lot_ of droids.

He stared at them on his night vision.

"Shit,"

Scorp and Xan crept through the door with their blaster rifles raised. When they came to one particular door, it was locked tight.

"It won't open," said Xan. "I've already tried,"

"Well then, let's blast it open!" shouted Scorp, planting a Detpack on the door.

"No, wait!" Xan cried.

Too late.

The Detpack exploded in a small puff of flame, and the door was blown off its hinges. Xan was blown back by it, and he crashed into the wall. Scorp ran over and helped him up, then ran through the door. "Hawkins!" he called over his speakers.

"No!" Xan said over the radio, limping over to the doorway.

They both stopped at the sound of metal clanging against metal.

Thousands of metal feet clanging against metal.

"This isn't good," whispered Scorp.

Suddenly, _thousands_ of lasers streamed at them from all different directions. They ducked behind the wall as the lasers shot past.

"Hawkins!" Xan hissed.

"Hawkins, do you copy?"

"_Sir, ne_… _Cough!_ _help!_ _I'm ove… t… other side of t… hangar!"_

"Hawkins!"

"How the hell did he get over there!" yelled Scorp, over the comm.

"I don't know, but I'm going in,"

"But their attracted to sound and light!"

"That's why you are going to cover me,"

Scorp sighed.

"I don't know _how_ I get myself stuck in these situations with you,"

The droids stopped firing, and Xan ran out into the room.

It was a little brighter in here, because it was a hangar; the energy shield that the ships pass through gave off a little light. Scorp pulled a thermal detonator and an EMP grenade from his belt, primed them, and then sent them flying through the air toward the droids. Before the grenades hit the ground, he raised his blaster rifle and shot at them. Two droids fell to the gunfire, before the rest of the droids shot at him. He ducked back behind the wall and reloaded. When the Thermal detonator hit the ground, some of the droids moved away from it, and toward the EMP grenade, which none of them noticed. The Thermal Detonator exploded, engulfing a few droids in flame, and flinging a few others across the hangar. He jumped out from his hiding spot and started running across the hangar, around the droids, in time to see the EMP grenade detonate. Electricity shot out in all directions, and a large number of droids were either disabled or destroyed. When he came to the door that he knew Hawkins was in, he slid across the floor and entered the door in time to escape multiple lasers.

When Scorp saw only one clone, lying on the ground with a broken leg, he asked:

"Where's Xan?"

Xan jumped in the LAAT that was parked about ten metres away from the door that Hawkins, and now Scorp, were in. He ran into the cockpit and fired up the engines. He heard lasers scorching the hull of the LAAT as it lifted off. He struggled with the controls, but managed to bring it around to face the droids. He didn't know how to operate the firing controls, so he did the next best thing:

He had placed a time bomb on the wing joint just before he hopped in, and now he reversed the LAAT away from the droids.

"Come on…" he said to himself nervously.

He glanced at the timer that he had set on his HUD:

15 seconds.

He jammed the thrusters forward, and the LAAT went toward the droids at full speed. He ran back to the hold as the LAAT drew closer and closer to the enemies. He climbed up as fast as he could, onto the right wing of the LAAT.

3.

2.

1.

He jumped forward, going the same speed as the LAAT, toward the door that he wanted to go in. The time bomb detonated, and the LAAT was sent spiralling down toward the droids with one wing. Xan landed hard on the hard surface, but he stood up and ran the rest of the way. The LAAT smashed into the droids with devastating force, at the _exact same time _that Xan hit the button to detonate the Detpack that he had thrown on the engine.

The explosion was huge.

Fire ripped down the length of the hangar, and bounced off the shield that led to space.

And it came back around.

The droids that survived the LAAT explosion were taken out by the raging fire that was a result of it.

"Run!" Xan yelled as he ran into the room where Scorp had just finished treating Hawkins' leg.

"But, what about Jay?" asked Hawkins, getting up and running with Xan and Scorp.

"He's dead,"

"But, why aren't we de…?"

"I don't know!" shouted Xan in frustration.

They ran down a corridor, and they heard the hangar collapse.

"That was the engines," said Hawkins.

"You blew up the engines,"

"Blay," Xan said into the comm.

"Blay, can you read me?"

"_Roger that, sir. What are you doing down there? I'm picking up a hell-of-a-lot of readings here and there all bad!_"

"No time to explain, but can you make your way to the nearest portal?"

The portals were the newest and fastest way to travel faster than the speed of light. Unfortunately, they were much too expensive to be in the hands of someone who would use it for personal use, so the Republic bought one, upgraded it, then cloned it and sent one to every different ship in the fleet. The teleporter's were able to fit 5 people at a time. The different people would stand in one of the five different squares that form a circle. Then a glass tube is put around them, to contain the teleportation and make sure no one else is teleported with them, and then they are teleported.

"_Yes sir, why?_"

"Blay, I want you to set the ship's self destruct sequence to 10 minutes, then get to a teleporter and travel to Tropica city, do you copy?"

"_Yes sir, Blay out_."

They ran down the corridors and came to a room.

"_Wow,_" Scorp's voice came over the comm.

The teleporter was about 3 metres in diameter, and was about 5 metres tall. It had enough space to fit 5 people – 5 smaller circles that surrounded the centre, which was a cube, floating in the air. Although it was small, Xan, Hawkins and Scorp could almost _feel_ the power that it provided. Scorp stepped up to the controls as Scorp and Xan stepped through the glass door – built into the glass 'house' – that housed the teleporter. After a few seconds, Scorp said:

"_Right, we're ready to go_,"

He stepped into the teleporter, and a speaker built into the walls outside the glass tube counted down:

"_5_"

They stood in the circles with their blaster rifles against their chest.

"_4_"

"_3_"

"_2_"

"_1_"

There was a flash of light, and they were simply gone, streaming through hyperspace at _twenty_ times the average hyperspace speed, making them almost disintegrate in the extreme velocities. The three of them were broken into tiny pieces, and thrown across the galaxy.

The clone turned around as the teleporter came to life.

Three clones appeared, and they stepped with haste out of the circular, glass tube. Xan stepped straight up to the clone and saluted.

"Corporal 325,"

The other clone saluted back.

"Captain 486. You're just in time to witness the CIS strike force."

Xan nodded.

"Any defence set up sir?"

"We have fire team's Alpha through to Echo armed with sniper rifles, and have them level with the approximate landing zone of the closest CIS ship."

"Have we got any back up on the way, sir?"

"26 _Accumulator_ class ship's en-route from Geonosis, but apart from that, we're on our own; 225 soldiers against 200 droids."

"Where-"

"You can go to the closest landing pad," said the Captain, answering Xan's question.

"Yes, sir!"

He saluted and ran down the hall. He came out of the corridor and found himself in the halls above the cloning centre. He kept on running, and he came out on the platform, rain falling down all around him. In front of him, about 25 clones were crouching in front of bunkers, and he knew that on the roof behind him that there were at least 50 troopers armed with sniper rifles.

"You're just in time," a voice said from behind him.

He turned and saw a clone with bulky armour, and yellow identification paint in some places.

It was Commander Cody.

"_Come on_," he said.

"_The first ship is here_!" someone else shouted.

Overhead, a CIS ship lowered, with all of its turrets raining hell down on all the clones that were on the platform. When it touched the ground, all the turrets ceased fire to let out the droids with no harm. A ramp that stretched the length of the ship lowered, and _thousands_ of droids, Super Battle droids and Droideka's piled out of the ship.

_I thought there were only going to be 100_! Thought Xan in disbelief as he crouched in the nearest bunker to the ramp.

"_All snipers, fire_!" Commander Cody yelled into the comm.

Over the Xan's head, all of the snipers fired at once, and a long line of blue flew the distance between the ramp and them with ease, covering it in about 0.12 seconds. The sound of all the bullets hitting the droids pleased Xan, and 50 droids fell over with holes that varied, depending on where the bullet hit them.

But there were _many_ more droids to deal with.

Xan fired along with the other clones as the snipers continued to fire at the droids, with many, clones and droids alike falling, to the laser fire that both sides produced. Xan fired at one droid that got _very_ close to him, and the droid exploded, with the remains falling to the platform. The ramp closed – it had let all of the droids out onto the huge platform that linked up with the clones' platform – and started to lift off. Meanwhile, all the droids and clones were firing, reloading and throwing grenades, which damaged the two platforms. The clones had a slight advantage against the droids – although they were out numbered, the clones were able to fire upon the droids, who were scrambling up a small bridge that linked the two platforms, with a perilous drop on either sides that led to the crashing waves below. When the ship was high enough, it started to travel upward slower than it did before, to give the turrets on the hull a good shot at the clones' platform.

_Bang!_

_Boom!_

_Bang!_

_Boom!_

_Bang!_

_Boom!_

The turrets lasers were pounding the platform that the clones stood on. Two rockets streamed up at the ship, one after the other, both aiming at the same turret.

_Bang!_

The first rocket impacted and did nothing. But then the turret fired at the clone that fired the rocket, and the shields went down for 3 seconds so the laser wouldn't impact on the shield.

_Bang!_

_BOOM!_

The sound of the rocket impacting on the turret, and the laser impacting on the platform, came together to form a deafening sound. The remains of the turret fell into the water far below the two platforms that the two forces battled upon.

"_All A-A-T's, fire on my command!_" Commander Cody shouted into the comm. The Anti-Air-Turrets on the roof of the Cloning facility raised up, all of the double-barrelled turrets aiming at the ship.

"_Fire!"_

At the rate that the CIS turrets were firing, the shields would go down every second or so, and they would be down for three seconds at a time.

_Boom, boom, boom, boom!_

The sound of the first four A-A-T's firing was ludicrously loud, and the sound of impact was even louder.

The four A-A-T rounds were made up of a metallic projectile, enclosed in a plasma coating, like the sniper rifles projectiles, except the projectiles in these were _much_ bigger. The turrets are able to be fitted on a ship as well, but if they are, they are called MPL's. (Main Pulse Laser's)

The laser's _smashed_ into the ship and ripped straight through it, streaming out the other side. The four rounds were quickly followed by more and more, until fire was blossoming out of multiple sections of the ship. The last round that entered the ship entered the engines, hitting the main part – the engines core, where there was _a lot_ of plasma and nuclear energy.

"_Get down_!"

A clone managed to get a signal out before the ship exploded, sending metal and debris flying everywhere. A large section of the ship was still intact, and it fell into the water, creating a huge splash. The droids continued to run up the ramp with their weapons firing, but many of them fell. Clones were dying as well, but when one clone died, they would make up the loss with 5 droids.

"_Commander Cody to command!_" Xan heard the signal over the comm.

"_We need air support on platform 5!_"

Xan continued to fire, and he lobbed a grenade. The thermal detonator exploded amongst a group of droids, sending them flying in different directions. He fired a group of controlled bursts, taking down 3 droids, and then reloaded.

"Get a rocket in here!" he yelled into the comm.

"_Roger that, Xan!_"

Xan froze, and turned to the clone that was standing beside him.

"_It's me, sir._" The clone had opened up a private channel on the comm.

"_It's me, Jay!_"

**A/N: Sorry that this chapter took so long, hope you all enjoy, and I'm open to suggestions!**


	6. The Ones That Aren't Dead

**The ones that aren't dead…**

**And the ones that will be…**

Scorp shot at the droid, and he prepared to fire at another, when he hear a message come through the comm system:

"_Sir! Sir! Can you read me?_"

"What?"

"_Sir? Why'd you leave without me?_"

Time stopped.

"Jay?"

He turned around as lasers filled the air around him. Explosions all around them lit up the area, and screams filled the air. A clone stood before Scorp, and the clone was scarred: the armour was black in most places, and the voice sounded a lot like Jay's.

"Is that you?"

"_Yes sir_,"

_Bang!_

Scorp's shoulder plate exploded as it was hit by a high speed projectile, and he screamed as blood poured out of the wound that it created. He sunk to the ground, and then Jay bent down to help him.

"_I'll get you some help sir!_"

He picked him up and placed him on his shoulders, running into the cloning facility.

Inside his helmet, Jay smiled.

* * *

Xan fired at the droids, while Jay told him the whole story over the comm.

"_I just did what my instincts told me to_," he said, finishing.

"Nice,"

Xan fired his sniper rifle again, and more droids fell to his gunfire and the gunfire of the other clones.

_Something doesn't add up_…

Something came through the comm, and only Xan heard it.

"What is it, Hawkins?"

He heard Hawkins say something else, then he stopped completely.

"No _way_,"

_Bang!

* * *

Hawkins limped down the white hallway, wincing at the pain that he was going through._

After 'Jay' had met him in one of the hallways, he heard a click, and then he dived to the right, pushing the other clone out of the way. The sound that he heard was a sniper rifle being loaded, and then it fired at them, the bullet passing straight through the other clone's head, spraying him with blood, then the bullet went through Hawkins' leg, as he was in mid-dive. He stopped in the hallway, long enough to switch to a private channel with Xan, and then he kept on running, knowing that the other soldier with the sniper rifle wasn't far behind.

"Xan! This is Hawkins,"

"_What is it, Hawkins?_"

"Dive to your right, _now_!"

He heard a sniper rifle shot ring out among the rest of the noise, and he swore.

He had seen Xan a few seconds earlier, recognizing him instantly, as he was standing still, facing another clone that had most likely called himself Jay.

_Bang!_

Another shot rang out from the same rifle – an assassin's rifle – that had tried to shoot him earlier.

Hawkins fell.

Glass shattered.

Rain poured through the broken window.

"Pathetic," said the clone that stood over Hawkins non-moving body in disappointment, and then he ran off to report his success to Commander Neyo.

* * *

Xan moved fast.

Very fast.

His feet hit Jay's feet, and he tripped. A bullet swam amongst the chaos, and it slammed into a clone's back. The clone pitched forward, falling to the ground. Another clone popped up in the place that the other clone stood in, and gave a thumb's-up sign to the direction of a particular sniper.

Three targets have been taken down.

Three targets that _had_ to be taken down are now dead, or very close to it.

The work went unnoticed by everyone else.

_Good_.

* * *

Hawkins coughed.

Then he got up.

"Son of a _bitch_," he breathed.

He ran down the corridor towards Xan's platform, when he bumped into a clone, who also had blood on him.

Hawkins kept on running, when he noticed something on the shoulder of the clone, something that no one else would notice.

A lightning bolt, inside a square that had been diagonally sliced.

"Xan?"

The clone turned around, and said:

"I'll be damned to fucking _hell_ when someone manages to take me down. Follow me."

* * *

"You do realise, 'Scorp', that your friend 'Jay' is dead?"

"Liar!" spat Scorp in the interrogation room.

"He brought me here! LET HIM GO!"

The clone across the table laughed.

"Why don't you just accept the fact that he has moved on, and you haven't? We knew that he was special, along with you, and the other two. What we don't know, however, is why you won't cooperate!"

He slammed his fist on the table, and then he said:

"Right now, their dead bodies are being brought to me, and then you will see that they have taken their own lives to be rid of _you_,"

He walked out of the room, and then he asked a clone:

"Is it done?"

"_Yes, commander Neyo: it is done_,"

"Good, but bring me their bodies: I want to convince this… s_pecial_ soldier to be on our side: the Emperor has ordered commands to all the commanders. He thinks that the Jedi are plotting to overthrow the Republic, and he needs more time to complete the 'weapon'. And he also said to make sure that any of the special troops should be taken care of."

"But, doesn't that mean the complex will go up? I witnessed the destruction, first-hand, of Demonicor city."

"That was us. We had to plant the bomb: they were breeding too many of the soldiers for the Emperor's liking."

"You are dismissed, soldier."

"Y…yes sir."

* * *

Two clones one limping, ran down the hallway, covered in blood, some that is their own, some that isn't, but there is no difference.

"This way!" panted Xan.

They kept on running, down countless halls that looked the same as each other.

"Here,"

They came to a door, and Xan punched in the code. The door slid open, and it revealed Commander Cody, standing in the centre of the room.

"Sir!"

They saluted.

"Why aren't you fighting, sir?"

"_Had orders to pull out and defend another platform,_"

"Sir: someone is trying to kill us," Hawkins said, cutting straight to the point.

Cody hesitated, and then he said:

"_I was afraid it would come to this: you two are failed experiments, and the chancellor wants you dead: he will do anything to stop anyone threatening the empire_."

"What!"

"_I'm sorry_," he said, putting his hands down by his side.  
He pulled a pistol, as quick as a flash.

But Hawkins was quicker.

_Bang!_

His right leg lashed out and caught the commander in the helmet, throwing him off.

"Run!" Xan shouted, grabbing Hawkins and pushing him through the door. They ran down the hall, and lasers streamed past their heads. They ran faster than the commander, and they had soon lost him in the maze of hallways.

"Damn it," Cody muttered.

"Neyo: this is Cody; I've found them: they are still alive!"

* * *

Two bodies fell to the floor, and Scorp looked down at them.

"This is them?" he asked.

"That's them,"

Scorp didn't believe them.

"I'm afraid I don't bel-"

"Why not?" Commander Neyo cut in.

"Because Xan and Hawkins are too good, just like me: they wouldn't be captured,"

"Yet you were, and they died, because you weren't there for them,"

Neyo could feel it: the clone was nearing completion.

"Want me to prove it?"

"Xan had a scar,"

"What?"

"A scar, on his right cheek: show it to me,"

Neyo took off the helmet of one clone, then the other, and he said:

"There it is."

On the right cheek of one clone, there was a scar.

The scar started at the bottom of the cheek, and then it travelled up and across his eye, then stopped at his eyebrow.

Scorp slowly looked up at them.

"What do you want me to do?"

* * *

Commander Neyo placed the energy knife back into it's holster on his belt.

"That wasn't them!" he said angrily. "I had to cut his cheek because Commander Cody knew that there was a scar there! That was pure_ luck_,"

"There is no luck, sir,"

Commander Neyo slammed his fist onto the table, then said quietly:

"There is one more, he goes by the name of Blay:

Take care of him _yourself..._"

* * *

They ran down the countless hallways, and finally came to the hangar.

"There it is," said Xan, gesturing to two brand new ARC-170 fighters sitting in the middle of the hangar.

"Wow,"

"Come on,"

"But they don't have hyper drives!"

"No, but I know a few ships that do."

He ran off to one of the fighters, jumped in, and strapped himself down. Hawkins did the same.

"_Where's Scorp_?"

"He's with them,"

"_How do you know_?"

"I don't,"

"_What the hell's that supposed to mean!_"

They went through the necessary flight checkups, and then they lifted off, flying high into the sky. The destruction of Tropica city faded into the distance, as did the CIS ships attacking it.

Xan knew the Republic would win: it was what they were designed to do.

* * *

Blay fired at the droids, and then he reloaded, and fired again. The droid numbers started to diminish, and then he heard a message over the comm, a private channel:

"_Blay! I need some cover!_"

"Jay!"


	7. Death Will Come To Us All

**Death Will Come To Us All…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

* * *

**

Blay fired at the oncoming wave of droids.

_Boom!_

Another rocket swept toward two Droideka's and wiped them out. Blay reloaded and fired again.

"So, you survived," he said to Jay on a private comm channel.

"_Yes, sir!_"

"How?"

There was a pause that was filled with static, screaming, explosions and blaster fire.

"_I'll tell you later!_"

_I knew it_… Thought Blay.

"Well grab a weapon and help me!"

"_Roger_,"

_They'll give me a promotion for this!_ Thought Jay.

He grabbed a sniper rifle and held it up to the back of Blay's head.

"You're not Jay."

"_Wh-_"

Blay swung around and smashed his blaster rifle's barrel into the clone's head. He fell backward and stumbled, falling to the ground. Blay held his blaster rifle unmoving, the end aimed at the clone's head.

"I saw a security recording on board the _Accummulator_: the elevator that Jay and Hawkins were on crashed, killing Jay, but not Hawkins."

"_Don't kill me!_"

Blay would have laughed at the plea.

"I'm not as low as you: I don't kill allies"

He ran up the ramp, leaving the clone on the platform.

The door in front of Blay slid open and he ran inside.

"They have been tracked to a _Vennator_: they will not escape us again."

"Good. Have our _friend_ take care of them."

Commander Neyo and Commander Cody walked down the hallway together, talking, obviously, about Hawkins and Xan.

"Where is the third?" asked Cody.

"He is being dealt with as we speak…"

_Shit!_

Blay ran down the rest of the corridor, being ignored by the two commanders'.

_Okay, where to now?_ Blay asked himself.

The hangar.

* * *

"Damn it!" Xan said as he took another hit to the starboard wing. He glanced at the display:

**Shields: 28**.

After jumping on board a disabled _Vennator_, Xan and Hawkins had tried to get it working, but had instead been disappointed, and were now making their way to another ship.

"_Xan! This is Hawkins: I am under heavy fire! I repeat: Am under heavy fire, need immediate repairs!_"

"Roger, Hawkins!" replied Xan while taking out a droid star fighter.

"Follow me in!"

"_Roger that, Xan!_"

_Bang!_

"Shit!"

_BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep_!

The display now read: **Shields: 0**.

And his engines were flashing red.

"Maday! Maday!" he yelled into the radio.

"This is Corporal 325, requesting immediate tractor beam transportation to _Vennator_ nearest sector 5G, coordinates: 74G, 29D! Engines have been hit with missile and have failed!"

He was about to repeat when his communications were jammed.

"_Xan! We're being pulled in!_"

Good.

"_We're being pulled into a CIS capitol ship!_"

* * *

Blay struggled to gain control over the ARC-170 fighter, but managed to pilot it into the middle of the space battle. He was risking his life, but he had to save, or at least _warn_, Xan and Hawkins.

He locked onto a LAAT, but it didn't have Xan or Hawkins' number. He growled and tried again.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

He yelled and punched the control board in frustration, then tried again.

* * *

_Don't move, - don't die._

Xan sat in the cockpit of his ARC, sharing the CIS hangar with Hawkins' ARC, a LAAT full of 5 clones, and a _lot_ of droids.

He hoped that someone could find a way out of the hangar, although he knew it was impossible, but he was hoping none-the less.

"This is Corporal 325," he said into the comm, the message directed to the LAAT.

"Can you read me, over?"

"_Roger, 325, I read you. I have a plan to get us out of here!_"

"Roger!"

"_One of my men will create a distraction. When he does, take down as many of them as you can. Understood?_"

"Roger that."

He looked to the left and saw a clone making his way along the wall, heading towards one of the hangar's shield generator's.

"Enemy sighted!" one of the droid's said, and it opened fire on the clone.

The clone raised his blaster rifle and fired at the droids, taking down three instantly, breaking into a run. Thousands of red lasers lighted up the hangar as the clone ran along the wall, reloading and firing again. He tossed a Thermal Detonator at the droids, and it landed somewhere at the edge of the group. It exploded, and shrapnel flew in all different directions, slicing a few droids' circuits. The clone reached the generator and pulled out a Detpack.

Xan waited anxiously as the clone began to fix the Detpack to the generator.

Suddenly, a Thermal detonator rolled next to the clone!

He looked at it, and then dived to the left.

_Boom!_

The detonator exploded, disintegrating the clone's right arm.

He screamed in pain, and was thrown from Xan's view.

"We have to help!" Xan shouted into the comm, getting ready to go out of the ARC.

"_Negative,_"

* * *

Blay flew the ARC towards a group of fighter's, hoping he could find Xan and Hawkins there.

_Boom!_

"Shit!"

The ship jolted violently, sending Blay crashing into the windscreen, making his head hurt like hell.

He regained his focus and returned fire at the swarm of fighters.

Suddenly, they stopped firing, and they went away to engage a group of LAAT's.

Blay got a sinking feeling, and he let go of the controls: the ARC moved by itself!

He was being tractored into a CIS capital ship.

* * *

The clone grabbed onto the Detpack with a shaking hand, and he the detonator lay in one of his pouches.

He prepared to get up, when a voice said:

"Don't move."

He looked behind him, and saw _all_ of the droids standing in front of him, all their weapons raised up to him.

Then he got an idea.

A crazy idea.

A _suicidal_ idea.

The clone managed to slowly pull his pistol from his belt, and he slowly placed it on the ground. Then he pulled out a spare battery pack, and put it on the ground. By that time the droids had lowered their weapons enough for them not to be pointing at him. Then he held up the Detpack.

"Help," he said into the comm.

"_Go!_"

Xan leaped out of his fighter and fired his blaster rifle.

One droid went down straight away, then another, and another.

The droids looked away for a split second, then the clone _rammed_ the Detpack _into_ the droid's chest plate, and kicked the droid away. All the droids turned to the clone as their fellow droid flew past them, and they blasted the clone to bits.

The droid with the Detpack stuck in its chest scraped along the floor, and landed next to the generator.

As the clone drew his last breath, he knew that he had accomplished his mission.

He died, and his finger came off the detonator that he had grabbed from his belt, and the Detpack exploded.

All the droids around or near the generator were engulfed in flames, as was the generator itself. Fuel lines along the wall exploded as well, taking out the entire wall itself! Xan looked up as a ship, an ARC-170, landed in the hangar.

Blay!

"Get out!" he screamed into the comm.

"The ship's gonna blow!"

It was true: the ship was losing altitude, due to the fact that it was inside the atmosphere of Kamino, and the shields around the ship itself, and the hangar shields, were down: the ship had been compromised.

Blay landed, jumped out of the ARC, and joined Xan, firing as he did.

"_Good to see you, sir_!"

Hawkins came running in at that same moment, and the floor underneath their feet exploded, flinging them in all directions.

Xan was smashed against the side of the LAAT, and he realised that they were all doomed.

"Get on!" he managed to yell over the comm.

All the clone's managed to get on board, and he jumped into the cockpit, firing up the engines.

"_Where's Blay_?" demanded Hawkins as he stumbled on board.

"I can't see him!" Xan shouted.

"_Argghh!_"

Xan looked back and saw Hawkins collapse, his armour black and smoking from where a laser had just hit him.

That was it: he wasn't waiting any longer.

He raised the LAAT, and flew it out of the ship and into space, making haste for the nearest Venator ship, which was accompanied by two Acclamator ships.

* * *

Blay coughed and looked up.

There were no clones, only droids, who were getting sucked out of the hangar.

He stood up quickly and ran towards his ARC, configuring his armour so it would keep him on the floor of the hangar. He jumped in the ARC, raised it, and flew, hard and fast, out of the hangar. Once out, he looked for a LAAT, making best speed towards the nearest Venator.

_Ding!_

"There you are," he said.

* * *

Xan's number was listed as the clone piloting the LAAT that entered the Venator: _Hellmor_. He gunned it, heading towards the ship as fast as he could.

"Xan! Do you copy! This is Blay! Do you read me!" Blay desperately tried to reach Xan on the comm, but only got static.

* * *

"All transmissions going to 325 have been silenced," said the COM officer.

"Good."

Scorp looked at the ship that Xan had flown on board.

"Plot a course to the _Hellmor_, and ready all MPL's."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Xan stepped onto the bridge, and a clone stepped up to greet him.

"Sir!" the clone saluted, and then shouted to the rest of the bridge crew: "Captain on deck!"

Xan was puzzled.

Then he remembered the emblem that he had put onto his shoulder for Scorp, Hawkins, Blay and… Jay to know that it was him.

It was an improvement of a Captain's insignia.

"At ease," he said to the clone.

_Boom!_

Xan was thrown to the floor, as were other clones.

"Umm… report!"

"MPL, sir!" shouted one clone.

"Coming from this ship."

A Venator ship appeared as a hologram, with two Acclamator's next to it.

"Friendly fire?" Xan asked.

"Negative: they've been tracking us for quite a few minutes."

A few minutes ago, he had come aboard…

Scorp.

"Take evasive action!" he barked. "Prepare to enter hyperspace!"

"Yes, sir!" replied numerous officers.

"Where to?" asked the navigations officer.

"Anywhere! Just get us the hell out of here!"

The _Hellmor_ turned, accompanied by the two Acclamator's, which opened fire on the ships that were shooting at them.

* * *

Blay gunned the ship's engines and sped towards the two Acclamator ship's and the Venator class Assault Ship. He gained speed fast, attempting to manoeuvre as fast, but the ship turned slowly, instead of the fast speed at which he wanted it to turn. He quickly approached the Venator ship, and saw its engines start to glow brightly.

"No!" he shouted into the comm.

"Xan! Cut the hyperdrive power! Don't jump!"

Too Late.

* * *

**A/N: That took a while to write, I know, but it was because I wrote it, my dad did a disk clean up on the computer, it go wiped, and I forgot most of the original chapter stuff. And I am doing a sequel to it as well, so wait for that.**

**This is the end of this fanfic, so please visit my sequel, The Front Lines 2: Earth's Last Hope, still under Star Wars.**


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